# Chapter 63
The human Lee Jaei began his life with a bang, receiving the “Most Sensitive Baby Who Gave Mom the Most Trouble” award from his maternal grandmother. Thanks to his innate temperament, he was known as the King of Minor Illnesses in Haesung-dong and never once received a perfect attendance award at school.
He firmly believes he could have swept all the prizes if he had participated in the “Beautiful Children Contest.” However, he was unable to enter due to his mother’s firm educational principles.
The prize-thirsty child Lee Jaei grew up to become an actor who received awards from all over the world just for breathing. Even excluding those won through Hong Duyoung’s works, there were countless others.
In truth, all the awards he had were no different from ones Doha had given him. Until recently, his chest had been too tight with guilt to tell Doha this, but now he could proudly say it. That Lee Jaei’s awards and the fame and wealth that came from them—everything—had been contributed to by Ryu Doha. That they were achieved together with his soul and breath.
“This award I’ve received today is the most meaningful among the approximately 500 awards I’ve received since my debut. I dedicate this honor to Ryu Doha-ssi, who is both an actor and my long-time lover.”
Jaei, holding a trophy molded to resemble an Oscar, shyly gave his acceptance speech. Applause erupted from the audience. After accepting the award, Jaei, trophy in hand, walked gracefully toward the audience.
There, the tall and handsome actor Ryu Doha was giving a standing ovation. Standing face to face with him, Jaei grabbed his chin, rose on his tiptoes, and gently pressed their lips together. Without hesitation, Doha gripped the nape of Jaei’s neck with one hand and shared a soft but deep kiss. Their lips locked together in a perfectly matching shape.
Despite being timid and easily startled by nature, Lee Jaei, who bravely walked into enemy territory and wiped out the enemy for his beloved, received the “Brave Cat Award” at Haesung Winners Castle apartment 902.
Ryu Doha—the host, trophy maker, presenter, MC, and audience of the award ceremony—placed the trophy in one of Jaei’s hands and gently laid the other hand on his own chest. Wide-eyed, Jaei wiggled his fingers.
Doha soon took away the trophy Jaei was holding, set it down, and offered himself—the real trophy he had prepared for today—entirely to him. Jaei diligently felt and touched the world’s largest trophy specially prepared by Doha, sharing his impressions.
“Doha, there’s no soft part left on you now. Everything’s hard.”
It was a compliment that he had successfully built the perfect body as a supporting male lead in a romantic comedy drama. However, Doha suddenly became very shy and blushed. With both palms neatly placed on his chest, eyes cast down to the floor, he spoke with a very surprised expression.
“Jaei. I don’t know what to do when you make those kinds of jokes with such a straight face every time. I’m a bit innocent, you know. You’ve been an adult for a long time, but I haven’t been one for very long…”
Astonished at Doha’s pretense of being incredibly modest, Jaei yelled in shock.
“What? You’re not innocent at all!”
If he had been a smoker, he would have slapped the floor with an e-cigarette as a pipe. Doha was clearly considerate but also bold and skilled. Even knowing that in Ryu Doha’s second life, he had only loved him alone, sometimes Jaei wanted to ask where on earth he had learned such shameless behaviors. Was it because he was a hybrid of a younger man and someone the same age?
With a strong spirit of challenge, he always fearlessly tried new things, and with intelligent eyes, he explored and observed Jaei’s body thoroughly. He would pour out all his strength and then suddenly control it while being ticklish, often watching with interested eyes as Jaei squirmed impatiently.
He could be Ryu Doha, a lover of the same age who cherished and valued the weak and sensitive Lee Jaei so much, then suddenly transform into Lee Doha who couldn’t control himself as he quenched his decade-long unrequited love, then act sorrowfully as Ryu Doha who had once left this world and returned, then abruptly change into a cute younger man who acted submissively, and then tease mischievously like a friend.
Jaei liked this Doha. Feeling Doha subtly changing from moment to moment while holding his body was thrilling and fun, like riding a roller coaster, giving him the feeling that an incredible event had occurred in his life. However, saying Doha was innocent was truly nonsensical, so he pinpointed the facts to correct him.
“Doha, you’re not innocent. I’m the innocent one.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m really too innocent. I’m seven years older than you, but you’re my first.”
“Jaei… Then what have I been seeing?”
He almost got persuaded by Jaei’s logic, but Doha shook his head and honestly expressed his doubts without falling into the trap Jaei had set. Since January 1st of this year, when Doha reclaimed his position as Jaei’s lover, every time he returned home after going out alone, he found Jaei on the kitchen counter. Really. The well-behaved Jaei would climb onto the counter and wait for him in various poses every day.
At first, he was so surprised that he thought his heart would drop. Doha, who sometimes closed his eyes when watching Jaei in movies, watched scenes much more provocative than what he had seen on screen right before his eyes, and thought many things. The conclusion of those thoughts was, ‘As an innocent and young person, I should work hard to study and improve.’ To definitely satisfy Jaei, who had become an adult before him.
With a subtle smile on his lips, Jaei calmly said, “Doha. I just look promiscuous. That’s why you seem a bit confused.”
“No. What I’ve seen was definitely not confusion.”
“What are you saying? The promiscuous one must be you, Doha.”
“Let’s go check. To see if that’s really true.”
The modest and shameless Doha tilted his head, then firmly grasped the hand of the innocent and provocative Jaei, and entered the king-sized kitchen counter set up in Jaei’s bedroom. The glamorous award ceremony after-party began.
* * *
“Detox,” which Hong Duyoung had been rambling would be his last film, truly ended his directing career. This is why people should be careful with their words.
“Words have power. I believe that.”
Doha, who always verbalized what he wanted to protect first and then made it reality, said. Currently, Doha was jogging in the park with his face hidden behind a mask to improve his physical strength. Despite the dark evening, Jaei, who had pulled down a large sun cap that covered his entire face, followed behind Doha like a puppy, running and answering.
“Doha, Doha. Make the next promise too.”
Out of breath and lacking stamina, he panted and collapsed like a slime. Doha, who caught the slime just before Jaei flattened against the ground, continued running with the slime on his back.
“I’m thinking about it now. What about Jaei?”
“I need to choose my next project quickly. Since I’m unemployed again.”
“I thought you’d rest a bit longer this time. Your body hurt again. And you were under a lot of stress.”
“There’s only you and me bringing in money for the company. I have many people I’m responsible for.”
As expected, the production of “Detox” was halted. Jaei felt sorry for the investors, staff, and other actors. However, such things happened quite frequently during productions. Instead, Jaei did everything he could morally do. He provided sponsorship for staff who had not yet been paid by Hong Duyoung, and promised investors to appear in the next film without a fee.
Only now did Doha realize that this was one of the reasons Jaei had rushed to work. He wanted to stop production as early as possible to minimize the damage to others. Doha had planned to let “Detox” finish filming and even be released. But Jaei could not tolerate the very idea of this film being released.
Jaei had surprisingly firm sides to him. Sometimes he could be self-centered. He was gentle and kind by nature, but definitely not a pushover. If he had truly been completely soft through and through, he probably wouldn’t have survived to reach his current position. Nor would he have been able to eradicate Hong Duyoung.
On the way home carrying Jaei on his back, Doha set a new goal. It was a pledge to definitely honor Jaei, who was working even harder after establishing his own company independent from his agency.
“I need to become more successful quickly so I can let Jaei rest for a long time. I’m scared because I don’t know when he might collapse again.”
“Mmm, yes. So you want to let me rest while you rise up. Is this Ryu Doha pushing Lee Jaei aside for a generational change? Hm?”
Jaei playfully said while tapping Doha’s crown with his short chin. Doha, tightly gripping Jaei’s thighs, replied glibly.
“Oh, did it sound like that to those big ears? Well, that could happen too. But would you stop loving me because of that?”
At Doha’s shameless statement, Jaei quickly pulled off his mask and opened his mouth to bite his cheek. Then he planted kisses on the spot he had bitten. That’s when Doha turned his head and kissed Jaei’s lips.
Comfortably riding on Doha’s back, Jaei took out his phone and looked at the screen, secretly chuckling to himself. Jaei was checking an article stating that the actor who had been cast as the male lead in Doha’s next drama had withdrawn before the first shooting.
The official reason for withdrawal was health issues. However, Jaei knew the real reason why he chose to withdraw. It seemed that the rookie Ryu Doha, cast in a not-so-large supporting role, was receiving much more attention than him for different reasons, and this had put a lot of pressure on him.
In fact, Jaei’s next project was already decided. But it was a secret from Doha.
